SANTIAGO, Nov 18, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – President Sebastian Pinera condemned on
Sunday for the first time what he called abuses committed by police in
dealing with four weeks of violent unrest that have rocked Chile.
“There was excessive use of force. Abuses and crimes were committed, and
the rights of all were not respected,” the president said in a speech to the
nation as it marked a month of turmoil that has left 22 people dead and more
than 2,000 injured.
Furious Chileans have been protesting social and economic inequality, and
against an entrenched political elite that comes from a small number of the
wealthiest families in the country, among other issues.
Accusations of police brutality and human rights violations have been
levelled since the protests broke out, prompting the United Nations to send a
team to investigate. Amnesty International has also sent a mission.
“There will be no impunity, not for those who committed acts of unusual
violence, nor for those who committed excesses and abuses. We will do what is
best for the victims,” he said, referring to protesters first and then the
security forces.
Pinera also praised an agreement reached last week under which Chile will
draft a new constitution to replace the current one that dates back to the
rightwing dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, who ruled from 1973 to 1990.
Many in Chile see this step — getting rid of a charter that smacks of a
dark, repressive chapter in the country’s past — as a way to help end the
crisis. It is a key demand of the thousands of protesters that have been
taking to the streets in Santiago and elsewhere almost daily for a month.
The spasm of anger began with a rise in metro fares but quickly swelled
into a broader outcry against the status quo in what is traditionally
considered one of South America’s most stable countries.
“If the people want it, we will move toward a new constitution, the first
under democracy,” Pinera said in a speech from the presidential palace.